The effect of species composition dissimilarity on plant-herbivore network structure is not consistent over time

The structural organization of several antagonistic networks has been demonstrated to be largely conserved through time and space even when species beta-diversity is high. This might occur either because species are replaced by others that fulfill similar network roles, or because interaction probabilities are given by species relative abundances rather than by their functional traits. Alternatively, if species-specific traits are important drivers of realized interactions, any change in species composition should promote a certain degree of network structural dissimilarity. Here, we used a spatial-temporal system comprising asteraceous plants and flower head herbivores from remnants of Brazilian Cerrado to investigate whether the relationship between spatial beta-diversity of species and network structural dissimilarity changes over time. We measured species beta-diversity using Sørensen’s dissimilarity index (βsor) and its components of species replacement (β-3) and richness differenc...